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I had the honor of sitting down and chatting with a Master Taster from the Jack Daniel’s Distillery recently. It was part of an “aggressive” marketing campaign by the people at Jack Daniel’s. Coast to Coast they have traveled sharing their new “Tennessee Honey” brand of whiskey. Scheduling was interesting. 9:30am in the lobby of the AVIA hotel. Yeah, sure, why not? After all, we weren’t lining up shots and talking about Football. This was part history, part education and wonderfully enlightening. Jeff Norman is the only Master Taster at Jack Daniel’s. He’s the son of distillery employees and has made a living tasting whiskey. Sometimes 45 tastes a day. Before you go busting out the door trying to find out where you can sign up for a similar gig, you need to know that Jeff has a PhD in Chemistry. (really? Yes) and his palette was tested and re-tested to be sure it was good enough to know what he was tasting. He passed and here he is, sitting with me having Jack for breakfast. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, right?

A Quick History

Let’s be honest here, does having a drink get any more ‘manly’ than a shot of Jack Daniel’s? For years, Jack Daniel’s whiskeys have been synonymous with walking up to a bar, throwing down a shot, and chasing it with your favorite beer. When you are as popular you are, you don’t go out of your way to change that. Over the years, the people at the distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee have obviously made attempts to change…better said, grow….with the times. Everything they do starts with “Old No. 7” that black and white Jack Daniel’s label that is one of the most recognizable bottles in the South, if not America. Why Old No. 7 you ask? As they say on their website “No one knows for sure except Jack Daniel himself, and he’s not talkin’.” Number 7 it is.

In 1988, they introduced Gentleman Jack, a softer, sweeter (think hazelnut) version aimed at the higher end crowd. “Small Batch” Bourbons were all the rage in those circles and Jack staked his claim in the market. Similarly, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel rolled out in 1997. Wonderful, but not my favorite. The difference in all of these is where you find the barrel at their facility. Time and temperature have everything to do with everything when making whiskey. This is no different.

A Bit-o-Honey?

It’s all about flavored Vodkas right now. Don’t believe me? Go to any bar and look. What started with lemon and orange has now exploded into cherry, banana, blueberry, cranberry, strawberry, apple, pear, pineapple and on and on and on…yes, they are all vodkas. Think of any fruit and you will likely find a vodka with that flavor. That market is growing because you are buying them and Jack wants his share. I don’t have any fancy stats to share with you except good ol’ time invested on this side of 3 feet of mahogany, but I can tell you the majority of the consumption of these flavors are women. Cosmopolitans were re-born with Sex and the City and Martini menus now read like trips to Ben and Jerry’s. They are all made with those vodkas.

“We sat down and tried to decide what flavor would go best with Jack…and we came up with honey.” Norman says, who points out that they aren’t necessarily ‘targeting’ women. “We want everyone to enjoy our entire family of brands.” Good move. Say it’s for the ladies and you won’t find a manly man within 50 feet of a bottle. So what about it? How does it taste?

It’s really, really good.

After we made the rounds of Jack’s family, Mr. Norman signaled for some of his latest creation which had been kept chilled and off to the side. You taste Old No. 7 blended with honey liqueur and you are going to get sweet. Some of the first words that went through my head were ‘syrup, butterscotch, maybe some fruit’ but of course, honey. To be very honest, the first thing I thought – and I even said it when I tasted it was- “oh….I can cook with that.” I cannot wait to pick up a bottle (which will set you back about $22) and experiment with a couple of recipes. Jack Daniel’s does have a cookbook filled with their recipes, but Tennessee Honey is too new for that. Instead, what they have shared are drink recipes for now. Find some of them here. When I come up with that perfect Bananas Foster recipe using Tennessee Honey, or a Grilled Chicken breast with Tennessee Honey glaze, I will let you know.

In the meantime, next time you see it, give it a try. Use it in a Mint Julep next time you have one. Mix it with some Iced Tea. This guy has “lazy afternoon on the porch” written all over it.

Just don’t tell the guys what’s in it until they tell you they like it.